(CNN) -- Vermont is weighing a bill that could make it the first state to legalize same-sex marriage without being prompted by the courts.

Vermont could become the first state to legalize same-sex marriage without prompting from courts.

The state's House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday afternoon to consider a bill that the Vermont Senate passed Monday by a vote of 26-4.

The House is expected to pass the bill.

Republican Gov. Jim Douglas, however, has said he opposes the bill.

"Governor Douglas agrees with President Obama that marriage is between a man and a woman. He supports Vermont's current civil union law, which provides equal rights, benefits, and responsibilities to Vermonters in civil unions," said the governor's spokeswoman, Dennise Casey.

The governor "believes this bill is a distraction from the important work the legislature needs to do to pass a responsible budget and get our economy going again," Casey added.

It is unclear whether both chambers of the state legislature would vote to override a potential gubernatorial veto.

Vermont made history in 2000 by becoming the first state to approve civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

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Massachusetts and Connecticut are the only states that allow same-sex marriage. Vermont, New Hampshire, and New Jersey allow civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

Vermont legalized civil unions nine years ago in response to a ruling from its high court.

Nationwide, the issue of same-sex marriage remains highly divisive. A June 2008 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found that 44 percent of adult Americans believe gay marriage should be recognized by law as valid; 53 percent are opposed.

The issue took center stage in the nation's largest state last November, when California voters narrowly approved a proposition amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. California had been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples since a May 2008 ruling by the state Supreme Court legalized the unions.

California's high court heard arguments three weeks ago in a case tackling the constitutionality of the controversial ballot proposition. It has not yet issued a decision.

The 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act effectively bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions by defining marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and a spouse as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."